Afro-German

Afro-Germans(Afrodeutsche) are Germans of African descent. They are estimated to be at 300,000 to 500,000. It is difficult to get an accurate count since the German government does not keep stats on ethnicity. Afro-Germans can be described as children of German and black parentage or Africans, Caribbeans, African-Americans living in Germany for several years.

Their is a biological component to being German in German society. Ones parent must be German.The German government once required that at least one parent be German to be a citizen. This has change with the requirement that individuals must have lived in the country for at least three years.

One of the first Africans known to have lived in Germany was Anton Wilhelm Amo (1703-1759).

Black people started to arrive in Germany in great numbers beginning in the 19th century with the acquisition of German colonies in Africa. Some Afro-Germans can go back 5 generation to that period.

More started arriving during World War I, in sizeable numbers. Large number of French Senegalese soldiers arrived and settled in Berlin and other major cities. They intermarried with German women and produced offsprings. It is estimated that by 1920, a population 20,000 to 25,000 Afro-Germans in Germany existed.

With the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany, we see the rise of virulent racism. Afro-Germans who survived the concentration camps were sterilized. We also saw a rise in the number offsprings of African American GIs and German women. They were referred to as Besatzungskind (occupation babies) and Mischlingskind (half breed/ mongrel child).

Modern Status

Afro-Germans are prominent in the entertainment industry. Some are host of popular talk shows and some are actors in soap operas. They are professionals, engineers, and are a variety of backgrounds, native born, mixed, from Africa, America, the Caribbean and other regions. Acceptance in German society is an issue since it is deeply embedded in German society to be German one must have German blood.

Initiative for Black Germans (ISD) is an organization formed to provide and represent the interest of black Germans.